The definitive account of the modern history of Bhutan as seen through the 20th-century Wangchuk dynasty, which has ruled the kingdom since 1907. Based on Bhutanese chronicles, this book features 106 rare historic photographs from archives in Bhutan and the United Kingdom. The hereditary monarchy of the Wangchuk dynasty in the independent Himalayan State of Bhutan was established in 1907. The first king of the Wangchuk dynasty, Sir Ugyen Wangchuck (1862-1926), was a charismatic figure who came to power against a turbulent background of incessant and complex feuding in that chaotic warrior state. He adopted as the unique symbol of his authority a crown surmounted by the head of a raven. The bird represents a form of "Mahakala”, Bhutan's guardian deity. The prototype of the founding monarch's Raven Crown had first been devised as a battle helmet for his father, Jigme Namgyel (1825-81). Known as the Black Regent, he had worn it in bloody struggles against his many rivals within the country and against the British who tried, unsuccessfully, to subdue him. The story of the Wangchuck dynasty's rise and triumph moves from a picture of turmoil and chaos to one of relative peace and stability. The heredity monarchy is fairly recent and the Wangchuck dynasty was established in 1907.

Raven Crown today is the official crown worn by the Kings of Bhutan. The Raven is the national bird of Bhutan. The raven is known locally as Jaroq. One time was a capital crime to kill a raven in Bhutan.

Appendix on British photograph[er]s and Films of Bhutan in the period 1864-1949

Vanished Kingdoms is the story of Janet Elliott Wulsin who explored together with her husband remote corners of Western China, Inner Mongolia, and northwestern Tibet. Wulsin's story went largely untold until, after her death in 1963, her daughter, Mabel Cabot, found her mother's private letters and diaries. Cabot spent the next four years conducting research in the Harvard University Library and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to unravel her mother's fascinating story.

They documented tribes people and sublime desert landscapes, and, most remarkably, were allowed to photograph the interior of several of the great Tibetan Buddhist lamaseries, including Choni, Kumbum and Labrang. Several dozen rare, hand-painted lantern slides survived and are reproduced here in color.The photographs from the Wulsin Expedition, are now in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University.